Plane lands safely at MSP without landing gear

A private plane landed safely at the Twin Cities airport late Wednesday night without its landing gear, an airport spokesman said.

The pilot and co-pilot on the King Air General Aviation plane notified air traffic controllers about the malfunctioning landing gear at about 11 p.m. as they approached the airport, spokesman Patrick Hogan said.

Firefighters were standing by in case the plane caught fire, but there was no fire and no one was injured when the plane landed on its belly, Hogan said.

Two runways at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were shut down from about 11 p.m. to 3:30 a.m., because the plane was in the way, he said.

"It skidded off of the runway slightly, so it was close to a second runway. It was near where they intersect," Hogan said.

Shutting down two runways for a time did not interrupt air traffic because there are few planes taking off and landing during those hours, he said. The airport's other two runways remained open.

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the incident.